There is a need in the commercial, scientific, and tactical communities for high resolution imaging systems that are light weight and small in volume Eliminating the imaging optics elements reduces both the size and weight of high-resolution imagers.
Furthermore, the diffraction-limited performance that is theoretically possible with large optical apertures can be achieved by combining the digital image data from several small PWIs without the need for precise alignment of the individual PWI optical axes. Thus, performance equivalent to a large optical aperture is achieved by mosaicing many small PWIs.